GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was wondering if I take my car to the dealer with the P0420 CEL, if they would replace the cat( if that is the problem) even though I have a CAI and a DC header installed? I mean its still under the FEDERAL warranty, they STILL have to fix it right? The car for the most part drives fine, Although it does run a little rough, specially in the cold. I have also feel like ive lost some power. So if any one can help that be great. I plan on calling tomorrow, but i was just wondering now.

given the price for an OEM cat, it is worth trying, although I could see where they might try to claim that the mods affect the fuel/air mix causing premature failure of the cat. I doubt that the mods killed the cat, but I could see where the dealer might make that claim. hopefully they won't, and they'll let the warranty cover it.

If they don't cover it, you should get a high flow Magnaflow cat. They're cheaper and you'll get a bit better performance.

True, but isnt it illegal to mess with the cat before the 5yrs or 80,000mi? atleast thats what I always thought.

UPDATE: Lady that took my call at pontiac dealer was a *****, which came to no surprise. I have found that my toyota dealer is WAY better at customer service than Pontiac. anywho, no dice, she gave me this big "WEEELLLL...typically NO!" She said it like I was some type of idiot for asking. toyota is a much nicer company to work with than pontiac, hmm I wonder why imports are doing so good besides reliability, price and design.....may be customer service is important to them too, unlike American companies.

hey eddwelcome from another chicagoland vibe. i got the same feeling from pontiac as you did (different work needed done, but same attitude). went to toyota and everything was fine.so will toyota cover your repairs then?

No, I didnt bother calling Toyota I figured they would probably just tell me the same thing( in a nicer way than Pontiac though). Im still trying to figure out exactly what is causing the cel, may be if it is the cat I'll get a magnaflow hi-flow cat and install myself, dunno yet

It doesn't matter how many Toytoa parts are in the Vibe, the VIbe is a GM vehicle, and only GM responsible for the factory warranty. The lady that said no, did she say why it would not be covered under warranty?

She said it wouldnt be covered b/c the after market parts might have played a role in changing the air fuel mixture and causing damage to the cat or something else. She also said I cant just assume it was that cat with the problem, which I didnt.

In order for the air/fuel mixture to damage the cat the engine has to be running so rich that the 02 sensors would trigger a CEL as well. The engine would pretty much have to be misfiring. I don't know what year your Vibe is but cat problems were extremely common in the first few model years and GM is fully aware of it. I would bring it in to the dealer and see what happens.

they cannot deny your warranty claims due to modifications. they have to prove that your mods caused the failure, not just look at it and say, well... no. it was PROBABLY due to failure and most likely, didn't know wth you were talking about in the first place (usually my experience with any 800# tech).

Happy 11,000 posts AKLGT!

Well so everyone knows how the story ends. I took it to the dealer, they checked out the cel and told me that the cat was bad, which i was already aware of. So I ask them if it will be covered under the federal warranty even though I have after market parts( cai and dc header). He goes off to talk to a bunch of techs and the shop manager for a minute and comes back and tells me they'll cover the $800+ to get that fixed!

good to hear vivid_art. At the worst you could bring in the car without the oem parts back on. But hope was right, they have to prove for sure it was the aftermarket parts to not cover it. glad you got it fixed though

haha, yeah I waited around for like 2-3 months(car drove fine but with a check engine light on) until I realized I had 3 days left to go get my emissions test done so I finally went to the dealer.

hahah dang only 3 days, good thing you got that in